xmind - one of the best eclipse rcp apps
TRANSCRIPT
XMindOne of the Best Eclipse RCP Apps
[email protected] twitter:@frankshaka weibo:@frankshaka
Frank ShakaCTO/Co-Founder, XMind Ltd.
What is XMind?
XMind is...• a cross-platform brainstorming and mind
mapping tool that's easy to use and easy to extend
• an application based on Eclipse RCP
• an open source project
"Best Commercial RCP Application" of Eclipse Community Awards at EclipseCon 2008
"Best Project for Academia" of SourceForge's 4th Annual Community Choice Awards in 2009
Reference: http://conciselearning.tumblr.com/post/9830232462/this-mind-map-created-by-learning-fundamentals
–Tony Buzan
“A Mind Map is a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the
potential of the brain.”
Mind Maps are Useful...• to generate, visualize, structure and classify ideas, ...
• for studying/organizing information, solving problems, clarify thinking, making decisions, writing, ...
• in many personal, family, educational and business situations, including note-taking, brainstorming, summarizing, memorizing, categorizing, ...
• improving learning/study efficiency up to 15% over conventional note-taking
Hand Drawn Mind Maps
Reference: http://mappio.com/mindmap/learning-fundamentals/population-explosion
• Pens and paper, the classic way
• Slow
• Bounded
• Hard to make modifications
• Waste of environmental resources
• Computer, keyboard, mouse, touch, etc.
• Fast
• Boundless
• Easy to reorganize/refactor
• Support for additional diagrams, like tree chart, org chart, spreadsheet, gantt chart, etc.
Hand Drawn Mind Maps vs. Mind Mapping Software
XMind ❤ Eclipse
XMind ❤ Eclipse
• Cross PlatformWindows, Mac OS X, Linux
• ModularityPlug-in system, RCP, p2
• Mature Code BaseSWT, JFace, Equinox, GEF
• Powerful IDE and SDK JDT, PDE, EGit, TPTP
Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP)
• An extendable framework to facilitate rich client application development
• org.eclipse.ui + org.eclipse.core.runtime
• Write once, run anywhere
• Bundled as native apps, in contrast to traditional Java applications (.jar)
XMind Software Architecture
XMind Distribution Package
Mind Map Editor Other UI Contributions
Cathy Application
Mind Map Viewer Workbench (Editors, Views)
XMind Core
Draw2D JFace
SWT Equinox
Challenges
• The classic user interface is over 7 years old
XMind 2008in 2008
XMind 6in 2015
Challenges
• The classic user interface is over 7 years old
• Flat design of major platforms
Challenges
• The classic user interface is over 7 years old
• Flat design of major platforms
• Hard to customize Workbench's look and feel using 3.x APIs
e4
CSS Spy
3.x Compatibility Layer
EventAdmin
Addons
EModelService
EPartService
Hierarchical Contexts
Model Fragments
CSS Widget StylingCustom Renderer
Dependency Injection
Application Model
Goals of New XMind UI
• Migrate from 3.x API to e4 (long term)
• Adapt to flat design
• Redesign main toolbar
• Redesign tab folder
• Usability improvements
DemoNew XMind UI
Target ReleaseLater this year
Thanks and Q/A